SNOW ON THE MOUNTAIN II

 REVIEWING NON-POISONOUS PLANTS

IS THIS SNOW ON THE MOUNTAIN A POISONOUS PLANT?

IT IS A SPURGE: A EUPHORBIA. Just one of more than 1600 species growing world-wide. These include Crown ofThorns and the Christmas Poinsettia. Only a few are attractive enough and hardy enough for Ontario gardens. For the most part the others must be considered as unwelcome weeds.

If, by Snow on the Mountain they mean Euphorbia marginata it’s a bit over the top to state that the plant is ‘poisonous to humans’. Poisonous to me suggests death or serious injury not a skin rash however unwelcome. It is not a common reaction. In all my years I recall only one person who developed a skin rash from a Spurge and it was not Euphorbia marginata.

  I can think of no particular reason why this one species has been singled out from so many. Since someone apparently thinks that it is worth mentioning it would be helpful to add a few more common names. Gardeners are just as likely to find this annual plant as Summer Icicle or Icicle Plant. Even more informally I’ve heard it called Ghost Weed. It would be even better of course to call it Euphorbia marginata. Please don’t call it ‘poisonous to humans’ when the only treatment needed is sudsy hot water.

( Serious damage could result if you get the caustic white sap in your eye which does call for a cautionary note.)

   White-edged plants are usually a variety of a plain green species; not so in this case. Euphorbia marginata is the species. It self-seeds and can appear under the greenhouse bench or in other pots and around the garden.
   A skin rash may not be a trivial matter to those who are sensitive but to label it as a poisonous plant is to make a mountain out of a molehill.